In wide area wireless communication networks, relatively high power base station devices are provided to serve wireless client devices. Each base station device is capable of serving wireless client devices in a coverage area that is primarily determined by the power of the signal it can transmit. Wireless service to client devices located within large buildings becomes degraded because the client device has difficulty receiving a signal from the base station, even if the building is well within the coverage area of the base station.
To augment the coverage of the wireless network, wireless transceiver devices with relatively small coverage areas (and serving capacities) are deployed. Depending on their coverage area and serving capacities, these wireless transceiver devices are referred to as “femto” cell or “pico” cell access point devices. For simplicity and generality, the term radio access point (RAP) device is meant to refer to a wireless transceiver device that is configured to serve wireless client devices over relatively small coverage areas and with generally less capacity as compared to a macro base station that is configured to serve a relatively large coverage area and consequently many more client devices. The RAP devices may be deployed inside or near buildings to serve client devices where signals from a macro base station are too weak.
A client device may need to handover service from one RAP device to another RAP device in a manner similar to handing over service from one macro base station to another macro base station. For effective handover, each RAP device needs to know its neighbor RAP devices and macro base stations.